Build Your Own Raspberry Pi Portable, The Pi-to-Go Handset

Oh Raspberry Pi, is there no end to the fun and creative projects of which you are a part? The latest nifty implementation of the tiny $35 Linux computer is a mobile Raspberry Pi machine called the Pi-to-Go. The brainchild of a fellow named Nathan Morgan, who dug into his nearby stack of Dell laptop parts for the battery he used to make the computer.

Morgan, in true open source fashion, is making his project’s schematics and step-by-step instructions available to anyone who would deign to attempt the same thing.

He was resourceful in finding components. For example, his LCD is actually an after market camera used to help cars back up safely, and he bought a simple tiny wireless keyboard and mouse combo for input. The batteries were hacked from a standard Dell Latitude D600 laptop battery pack, and he included WiFi and Bluetooth dongles, both a Raspberry Pi SD card and a 64GB SSD for storage, and a powered USB port.

Here’s the complete list of specs:

Probably the coolest part of the project, though, is the 3D printed case, which includes a sweet-looking Raspberry Pi logo cutout on the back that’s lit by rear LEDs. “This was not needed,” Morgan said in a blog post, “But I thought it was a nice touch.” You are correct, sir.

Before any says it in the comments, yes, the Pi-to-Go is kind of boxy, and the total price tag for all the parts ($391.30 by our count) is not all that economical, but if that’s your beef with this project, you’re missing the point.